Social spending as share of GDP in Norway
Norway: Social spending as share of GDP was 0.5% in 2021. ▼ Falling
Social spending as share of GDP in Norway, 1980–2021
Source: OECD (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2021, social spending as share of gdp in Norway stood at 0.5%.
The figure is down 20.3% on the previous year and down 13.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, social spending as share of gdp in Norway peaked at 0.9% in 1989 and was at its lowest, 0.4%, in 1980.
Norway ranks 20th of 42 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.
Social spending as share of GDP in Norway, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 0.4% | — |
| 1985 | 0.8% | +115.3% |
| 1988 | 0.9% | +20.1% |
| 1989 | 0.9% | +3.7% |
| 1990 | 0.9% | -6.7% |
| 1991 | 0.9% | -1.2% |
| 1992 | 0.9% | +1.4% |
| 1993 | 0.9% | -1.5% |
| 1994 | 0.9% | -0.9% |
| 1995 | 0.8% | -10.8% |
| 1996 | 0.7% | -10.3% |
| 1997 | 0.6% | -9.0% |
| 1998 | 0.6% | +2.4% |
| 1999 | 0.7% | +6.9% |
| 2000 | 0.6% | -11.7% |
| 2001 | 0.6% | +0.3% |
| 2002 | 0.7% | +7.1% |
| 2003 | 0.7% | +4.9% |
| 2004 | 0.7% | +2.6% |
| 2005 | 0.6% | -11.4% |
| 2006 | 0.6% | -7.1% |
| 2007 | 0.6% | -4.0% |
| 2008 | 0.5% | -14.8% |
| 2009 | 0.6% | +34.7% |
| 2010 | 0.6% | +0.2% |
| 2011 | 0.6% | -6.3% |
| 2012 | 0.6% | -4.9% |
| 2013 | 0.6% | +4.9% |
| 2014 | 0.6% | +1.2% |
| 2015 | 0.7% | +11.1% |
| 2016 | 0.8% | +19.3% |
| 2017 | 0.7% | -7.5% |
| 2018 | 0.7% | -8.7% |
| 2019 | 0.7% | -1.9% |
| 2020 | 0.7% | -1.8% |
| 2021 | 0.5% | -20.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.9% | 4 |
| 1990s | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Norway
More economy & growth data for Norway
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP 0.7416 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 1.42 Percent per annum (2029)
- Gross capital formation (current US$), annual growth rate 3.94 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross capital formation (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2321 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross capital formation (current US$), per capita 21,958 current US$ per person (2025)
- Gross capital formation (current LCU), annual growth rate 0.5503 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross capital formation (current LCU), per unit of GDP 2.41 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross capital formation (current LCU), per capita 228,273 current LCU per person (2025)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), annual growth rate -2.84 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross capital formation (constant 2015 US$), per unit of GDP 0.1955 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is social spending as share of gdp in Norway?
- Social spending as share of gdp in Norway was 0.5% in 2021, according to OECD (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest social spending as share of gdp recorded in Norway?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9% in 1989.
- What is the lowest social spending as share of gdp recorded in Norway?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4% in 1980.
- How does Norway rank for social spending as share of gdp?
- Norway ranks 20th out of 42 countries with data for 2021.
- Is social spending as share of gdp rising or falling in Norway?
- Over the last ten years it is down 13.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Norway data come from?
- The figures come from OECD (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Social spending as share of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Public social expenditure divided by gross domestic product, expressed as a percentage. Includes both in-cash and in-kind benefits in other social policy programs.